Staffers in the Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation ministries who came late for work on Monday were in for a surprise as Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu made a punctuality check at Nirman Bhawan following which names of about 80 errant officials were noted down.

This was the second surprise check at the said ministries by Naidu, who has been focusing on the need for punctuality. An official statement said on Monday that a bio-metric attendance system will soon be installed to mark attendance in these ministries.

Officials said that while the minister took a serious view of the tendency of absenteeism and coming late for work among the employees, it was also noted that cleanliness and maintenance at Nirman Bhawan has improved since his last inspection on June 12.

Starting at 9:10 am, Naidu took over an hour as he went around the various floors of Nirman Bhawan, where the offices of the ministries of Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) are located.

He noted that a large number of personnel in the lower rungs, like section heads and supporting staff, did not report for work on time. UD Ministry officials said that nearly 80 names of employees who were late have been noted down.

For the inspection, Naidu was accompanied by Shankar Aggarwal, Secretary (Urban Development) and other senior officials of both the ministries. Following the inspection, Naidu issued directions as per which joint secretaries of the two ministries shall visit their respective offices every day for a week to monitor attendance and find out about chronic offenders.

Naidu also directed that necessary and immediate action be taken against those who report late for work. Attendance registers are to be withdrawn 15 minutes after the due time of reporting and late-comers are to be marked absent for the day and not paid for the same.